The year of the APU: AMD says 2014 is shaping up to be a big one

At a conference called APU13, you can expect the subject matter to follow the script pretty much to the letter. But it's evident AMD is anticipating more from its multi-part processors well beyond this week in San Jose.

"Yes, it's shaping up that way," said Gabe Gravning, director of marketing, AMD Client Business Unit, when TechRadar asked whether the company is positioning 2014 as a big year for the APU.

"Between Mantle, HSA, bringing TrueAudio DSPs, integrating more and more in the security code processor, more IP with these processors - it's pretty good. It's probably one of the best lineups that we've got going into 2014."

"The million-dollar question is what form factors and devices stick based on where the market is," he continued. "How many Windows devices are going to be sold this year as we try to bridge to Android and other platforms as well."

A new dawn

Gravning spoke to us following a briefing on AMD's newly announced Beema and Mullins APUs, the latest to join its 2014 mobile APU roadmap.

The company is keeping many details close to vest, promising more to come at CES 2014. It's then we expect to meet OEM partners, handle the first devices and learn if AMD's performance figures really add up.

With Kaveri, AMD decided to skip over mobile at first and go straight desktop. The first machines packing the HSA-featured part will launch on January 14. Beema and Mullins, which scratch into Puma cores and boast 2x the performance per watt than their predecessors, will be available before Computex in June.

With Intel's Bay Trail lapping up plenty of tablet attention, AMD will have to have a good year indeed - starting with an impressive at CES - for its 2014 APU line-up to really take off.

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